Wing module having interior compartment

ABSTRACT

A wing module for an aerial vehicle in which the wing module has a flight configuration and an access configuration. The wing module includes an external wing skin having an upper skin with an upper surface having a curved profile and a lower skin forming the leading and trailing edges and having a generally planar lower surface. A hinge joint couples the upper and lower skins enabling relative rotation of the upper and lower skins between the flight configuration and the access configuration. The hinge joint is proximate the leading edge. An interior cavity is formed at least partially within the lower skin. In the flight configuration, the upper and lower skins have an airfoil cross section. In the access configuration, the upper and lower skins are split in the chordwise direction such that distal ends of the first and second skins are separated providing access to the interior cavity.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates, in general, to wing modules for aerialvehicles and, in particular, to a wing module for an aerial vehiclehaving a hinged panel incorporated therein that provides for enhancedaccessibility to an interior compartment of the wing module from theexterior of the aerial vehicle.

BACKGROUND

Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), also known as unmanned aerial vehicles(UAV) or drones, are self-powered aircraft that do not carry a humanoperator, use aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift, areautonomously and/or remotely operated, may be expendable or recoverableand may carry lethal or nonlethal payloads. UAS may be used in military,commercial, scientific, recreational and other applications. Forexample, military applications may include intelligence, surveillanceand reconnaissance missions as well as attack missions. Civilapplications may include aerial photography, search and rescue missions,inspection of utility lines and pipelines, humanitarian aid includingdelivering food, medicine and other supplies to inaccessible regions,environment monitoring, border patrol missions, cargo transportation,forest fire detection and monitoring, accident investigation and crowdmonitoring, to name a few.

Recently, military organizations have indicated a desire for smallunmanned aircraft systems that are operable as soldier borne sensors(SBS). Such soldier borne sensors should be easy to transport withoutputting a weight burden on the soldier and simple to deploy yet becapable of continuous flight during certain adverse conditions forminutes or hours. In addition, such soldier borne sensors should becapable of remote and/or autonomous flight in an operating theater ofhundreds or thousands of meters including, for example, visual line ofsight operations. Further, such soldier borne sensors should be capableof providing real-time information relevant to the area immediatelysurrounding the soldiers, enabling the soldiers to assess and respond tothe most eminent threat and/or rapidly changing threats.

SUMMARY

In a first aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a wing modulefor an aerial vehicle in which the wing module has a flightconfiguration and an access configuration. The wing module includes anexternal wing skin having an upper skin with an upper surface having acurved profile and a lower skin forming the leading and trailing edgesand having a generally planar lower surface. A hinge joint couples theupper and lower skins enabling relative rotation of the upper and lowerskins between the flight configuration and the access configuration. Thehinge joint is proximate the leading edge. An interior cavity is formedat least partially within the lower skin. In the flight configuration,the upper and lower skins have an airfoil cross section. In the accessconfiguration, the upper and lower skins are split in the chordwisedirection such that distal ends of the first and second skins areseparated providing access to the interior cavity.

In some embodiments, the hinge joint may defines a spanwise axis ofrotation for the upper and lower skins. In certain embodiments, thehinge joint may include first and second hinge joint elements disposedon opposites sides of the external wing skin. In some embodiments, theinterior cavity may be formed entirely within the lower skin. In certainembodiments, the interior cavity may be formed at least partially withinthe upper skin. In some embodiments, an array of pylon mounts may becoupled to the external wing skin. For example, the array of pylonmounts may be coupled to the upper surface of the upper wing skin andmay include first and second forward pylon mounts and first and secondaft pylon mounts. As another example, the array of pylon mounts may becoupled to the lower surface of the lower wing skin and may includefirst and second forward pylon mounts and first and second aft pylonmounts. In certain embodiments, operational components may be supportedby the interior cavity. For example, the operational components mayinclude an avionics package and/or a sensor package. In someembodiments, nonoperational components may be supported by the interiorcavity such as, a removable payload.

In a second aspect, the present disclosure is directed to an unmannedaerial vehicle. The unmanned aerial vehicle incorporates an airframeincluding first and second wings each having an airfoil cross section ina flight configuration and first and second pylons extending between alower surface of the first wing and an upper surface of the second wing.A thrust array is coupled to the airframe including first and secondpropulsion assemblies coupled to the first wing and third and fourthpropulsion assemblies coupled to the second wing. An electric powersystem is operably associated with the thrust array and is operable toprovide power to each propulsion assembly. A flight control system isoperably associated with the thrust array and is operable toindependently control the speed of each propulsion assembly. The firstwing has an external wing skin including an upper skin having an uppersurface with a curved profile and a lower skin having leading andtrailing edges and the lower surface. A hinge joint couples the upperand lower skins enabling relative rotation of the upper and lower skinsbetween the flight configuration and an access configuration. Aninterior cavity is formed at least partially within the lower skin. Inthe access configuration of the first wing, the upper and lower skinsare split in the chordwise direction such that distal ends of the firstand second skins are separated providing access to the interior cavity.

In some embodiments, the second wing has an external wing skin includingan upper skin having the upper surface with a curved profile and a lowerskin having leading and trailing edges and a generally planar lowersurface. A hinge joint couples the upper and lower skins enablingrelative rotation of the upper and lower skins between the flightconfiguration and an access configuration. An interior cavity is formedat least partially within the lower skin. In the access configuration ofthe second wing, the upper and lower skins are split in the chordwisedirection such that distal ends of the first and second skins areseparated providing access to the interior cavity. In certainembodiments, an avionics package may be supported by the interior cavityof the first wing and a sensor package may be supported by the interiorcavity of the second wing. In some embodiments, nonoperationalcomponents, such as a removable payload, may be supported by theinterior cavity of the first wing and operational components, such as anavionics package, may be supported by the interior cavity of the secondwing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the features and advantages of thepresent disclosure, reference is now made to the detailed descriptionalong with the accompanying figures in which corresponding numerals inthe different figures refer to corresponding parts and in which:

FIGS. 1A-1F are schematic illustrations of a compact unmanned aerialvehicle in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a compact unmanned aerial vehicle inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 3A-3G are various views of a wing assembly of a compact unmannedaerial vehicle in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 4A-4D are various views of a pivot locking shaft for use on acompact unmanned aerial vehicle in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIGS. 5A-5B are schematic illustrations of a compact unmanned aerialvehicle in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 6A-6B are schematic illustrations of a compact unmanned aerialvehicle in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 7A-7B are schematic illustrations of a compact unmanned aerialvehicle in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 8A-8C are schematic illustrations of an unmanned aerial vehicle inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of an unmanned aerial vehicle in accordancewith embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of an unmanned aerial vehicle in accordancewith embodiments of the present disclosure depicting alternate wingmodules;

FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration of a wing module depicting anelectronics module disposed inside of the wing structure for an unmannedaerial vehicle in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram depicting operational components of apropulsion and flight control system for an unmanned aerial vehicle inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 13 is a block diagram depicting a navigation system for an unmannedaerial vehicle in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While the making and using of various embodiments of the presentdisclosure are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated thatthe present disclosure provides many applicable inventive concepts,which can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. Thespecific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative and do notdelimit the scope of the present disclosure. In the interest of clarity,not all features of an actual implementation may be described in thepresent disclosure. It will of course be appreciated that in thedevelopment of any such actual embodiment, numerousimplementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve thedeveloper's specific goals, such as compliance with system-related andbusiness-related constraints, which will vary from one implementation toanother. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effortmight be complex and time-consuming but would be a routine undertakingfor those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of thisdisclosure.

In the specification, reference may be made to the spatial relationshipsbetween various components and to the spatial orientation of variousaspects of components as the devices are depicted in the attacheddrawings. However, as will be recognized by those skilled in the artafter a complete reading of the present disclosure, the devices,members, apparatuses, and the like described herein may be positioned inany desired orientation. Thus, the use of terms such as “above,”“below,” “upper,” “lower” or other like terms to describe a spatialrelationship between various components or to describe the spatialorientation of aspects of such components should be understood todescribe a relative relationship between the components or a spatialorientation of aspects of such components, respectively, as the devicedescribed herein may be oriented in any desired direction. As usedherein, the term “coupled” may include direct or indirect coupling byany means, including by mere contact or by moving and/or non-movingmechanical connections.

Referring to FIGS. 1A-1F in the drawings, an unmanned aerial vehiclehaving a flight mode and a compact storage mode is depicted and isreferred to herein as aircraft 10. Aircraft 10 may be a small or miniunmanned aircraft system suitable for use as a soldier borne sensor. Inthe illustrated embodiment, aircraft 10 has an airframe 12 incorporatingan upper wing 14 and lower wing 16 connected to one another by firstpylon 18 and second pylon 20. Upper wing 14 is pivotably connected tofirst pylon 18 via first upper pivot joint 22 and second pylon 20 viasecond upper pivot joint 24. Similarly, lower wing 16 is pivotablyconnected to first pylon 18 via first lower pivot joint 26 and secondpylon 20 via second lower pivot joint 28. Pivot joints 22, 24, 26, 28facilitate rotation about axes parallel to the principal planes of wings14, 16 and pylons 18, 20 and generally parallel to the principal flightdirection of aircraft 10. Thus, during transition, pylons 18, 20 rotateabout axes parallel to the principal forward flight direction ofaircraft 10. In the flight mode of aircraft 10, upper wing 14 and lowerwing 16 are generally and/or substantially parallel to each other.Likewise, first pylon 18 and second pylon 20 are generally and/orsubstantially parallel to each other. In addition, upper wing 14 andlower wing 16 are generally and/or substantially perpendicular to firstpylon 18 and second pylon 20. Thus, upper wing 14, lower wing 16, pylon18 and pylon 20 form a quadrilateral having a rectangular cross sectionand in some embodiments, a square cross section.

The components of airframe 12 including upper wing 14, lower wing 16,pylon 18 and pylon 20 may be formed from light-weight, high-strengthmaterials, including but not limited to plastics, metals and composites.Plastics suitable for use may include foams, such as expandedpolystyrene (EPS) foam. Metals suitable for use may include aluminum,magnesium and other lightweight, high-strength metals. Suitablecomposites may include fiberglass fabric, carbon fabric, fiberglasstape, carbon tape and combinations thereof. Composites may include aplurality of material layers of varying types and compositions.

In the flight configuration, aircraft 10 has a two-dimensionaldistributed thrust array including four propulsion assemblies 30, 32,34, 36 that are independently operated and controlled by the flightcontrol system of aircraft 10, as discussed herein. It should be noted,however, that the distributed thrust array of the present disclosurecould have any number of independent propulsion assemblies includingsix, eight, twelve, sixteen or other number of independent propulsionassemblies. As used herein, the term “two-dimensional thrust array”refers to a plurality of thrust generating elements having substantiallyparallel axes of rotation forming a two-dimensional array when projectedto a plane perpendicular to their axes of rotation. A minimum of threethrust generating elements is required to form a “two-dimensional thrustarray.” A single aircraft may have more than one “two-dimensional thrustarray” if multiple groups of at least three thrust generating elementseach occupy separate two-dimensional spaces thus forming separateplanes. As used herein, the term “distributed thrust array” refers tothe use of multiple thrust generating elements each producing a portionof the total thrust output. The use of a “distributed thrust array”provides redundancy to the thrust generation capabilities of theaircraft including fault tolerance in the event of the loss of one ofthe thrust generating elements. In the flight configuration, the fourindependently operating propulsion assemblies 30, 32, 34, 36 form atwo-dimensional distributed thrust array with each of the propulsionassemblies having a symmetrically disposed propulsion assembly. In theillustrated configuration, propulsion assemblies 30, 36 aresymmetrically disposed propulsion assemblies and propulsion assemblies32, 34 are symmetrically disposed propulsion assemblies. For torquebalancing, propulsion assemblies 30, 36 may rotate clockwise whilepropulsion assemblies 32, 34 may rotate counter clockwise.

As noted, aircraft 10 includes four propulsion assemblies, two for eachof wings 14, 16, that provide vertical lift for aircraft 10 in thevertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) orientation of aircraft 10, as bestseen in FIG. 1F, and forward thrust for aircraft 10 in the forwardflight orientation of aircraft 10, as best seen in FIG. 1A. In theillustrated embodiment, first and second upper propulsion assemblies 30,32 are secured to upper wing 14 forward of first and second upper pivotjoints 22, 24, respectively. Similarly, first and second lowerpropulsion assemblies 34, 36 are secured to lower wing 16 forward offirst and second lower pivot joints 26, 28, respectively. Asillustrated, propulsion assemblies 30, 32, 34, 36 may be positioned atthe leading edge of airframe 12. In alternate embodiments, propulsionassemblies 30, 32, 34, 36 could be coupled to the trailing edge ofairframe 12. In the illustrated embodiment, each of propulsionassemblies 30, 32, 34, 36 includes a rotor assembly and an electricmotor powered by electricity from one or more batteries. In otherembodiments, propulsion assemblies 32, 34, 36, 38 may be powered via anysuitable power source, including but not limited to, internalcombustion, air pressure or mechanical energy storage from a liquid fuelsource, a compressed gas, a flywheel or a spring, as examples.

In addition to the specific elements shown, aircraft 10 may includeother functional components, such as a sensor system. Such a sensorsystem may include a sensor array having one or more of an opticalcamera, a thermal camera, an infrared camera, a video camera, anintelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance payload, a GPS system orother desired sensors. A sensor system may provide real time imagesand/or video to the ground station via a communication system using awireless communications protocol, which may be useful when aircraft 10is operated as a soldier borne sensor. Alternately, aircraft 10 maystore some or all of its recorded data onboard, to be downloaded uponlanding. Further details of suitable sensor systems are describedherein.

Aircraft 10 may be operated responsive to autonomous flight control,remote flight control or a combination thereof. As an example, aircraft10 may use waypoint navigation to follow a trail of pre-programmedwaypoints to accomplish its navigational goals. Alternatively oradditionally, aircraft 10 may be operated responsive to assisted manualflight based upon commands received from a ground station via acommunication system using a wireless communications protocol. Aircraft10 may comprise a flight control system housed within airframe 12. Sucha system may include non-transitory computer readable storage mediaincluding a set of computer instructions executable by one or moreprocessors for controlling the operation of aircraft 10. The flightcontrol system may be implemented on one or more general-purposecomputers, special purpose computers or other machines with memory andprocessing capability.

Aircraft 10 is designed to be placed into multiple configurations,depending on operational demands at a particular time. In FIGS. 1A and1C, aircraft 10 is shown in an “open” articulation suitable for flightwith upper and lower wings 14, 16 having a maximum vertical dimension,with reference to the vertical axis V in FIG. 1A. In FIGS. 1B and 1D,aircraft 10 is shown in a “closed” articulation suitable for compactstorage with upper and lower wings 14, 16 having a minimum verticaldimension, with reference to the vertical axis V in FIG. 1A. As usedherein, the term “maximum vertical dimension” refers to the distancebetween upper and lower wings 14, 16 when aircraft 10 is locked in theflight mode and the term “minimum vertical dimension” refers to thedistance between upper and lower wings 14, 16 when aircraft 10 is lockedin the compact storage mode. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1A-1F,each of upper and lower wings 14, 16 has a generally planar lowersurface generally defining its principal plane. It can be seen that theprincipal planes of upper and lower wings 14, 16 remain generallyparallel to one another in both the open and closed configuration. In asimilar manner, each of pylons 18, 20 has a generally planar profiledefining its principal plane. Further, the principal planes of pylons18, 20 remain generally parallel to one another in both the open andclosed configurations of aircraft 10.

While the two wings 14, 16 remain parallel to one another and the twopylons 18, 20 remain parallel to one another in both articulations, thegeometric relationship between the principal planes of upper and lowerwings 14, 16 and the principal planes of first and second pylons 18, 20varies substantially between the open and closed configurations ofvehicle 10. As can be seen in FIGS. 1A and 1C, in the openconfiguration, the geometric relationship between the principal plane ofwings 14, 16 and the principal plane of pylons 18, 20 is one oforthogonality. In other words, the principal planes of wings 14, 16 andpylons 18, 20 are disposed at approximately 90 degrees when aircraft 10is in its open configuration. This configuration maximizes the verticaldimension between upper and lower wings 14, 16, thus enhancing stabilityand maneuverability of aircraft 10. The geometric relationship betweenwings 14, 16 and pylons 18, 20 is quite different in the closedconfiguration. As can be seen in FIGS. 1B and 1D, pylons 18, 20 havebeen rotated relative to wings 14, 16 such that upper and lower wings14, 16 have shifted laterally, with reference to the lateral axis L inFIG. 1A, and have moved vertically relative to each other. The principalplanes of the wings 14, 16 remain substantially parallel and the pylons18, 20 remain substantially parallel, however, the principal planes ofthe wings 14, 16 and the pylons 18, 20 are no longer orthogonal to eachother in the closed configuration, but are disposed at an acute angle toone another. In this closed articulation, upper wing 14, lower wing 16,pylon 18 and pylon 20 form a quadrilateral having parallelogram shapedcross section. In alternate embodiments, wings 14, 16 and pylons 18, 20may be substantially parallel to one another in the closedconfiguration. In the closed configuration, the vertical distancebetween wings 14, 16 is at a minimum, thus facilitating compact storage.

The exploded view of FIG. 2 further clarifies the relationship of thevarious components of aircraft 10 described above in connection withFIGS. 1A-1F, along with additional functional details. In theillustrated embodiment, aircraft 10 incorporates first and second pivotlocks 50, 52 to lock aircraft 10 into its current configuration. Thus,when aircraft 10 is collapsed into its closed configuration, pivot locks50, 52 hold aircraft 10 in that configuration. Conversely, pivot locks50, 52 will hold aircraft 10 in its open configuration once it isopened. First pivot lock 50 comprises forward locking cam 54, aftlocking cam 56 and compression spring 58. When assembled, forwardlocking cam 54 is disposed within forward aperture 60 of first pylon 18.Similarly, aft locking cam 56 is disposed within aft aperture 62 offirst pylon 18. As will be described in further detail below, each oflocking cams 54, 56 incorporates certain geometric features operable tofix the orientation of the airframe wings to the airframe pylons whenfully extended by compression spring 58, but to allow them to rotatewhen compression spring 58 is compressed. Similarly, second pivot lock52 comprises forward locking cam 70, aft locking cam 72 and compressionspring 74. Forward locking cam 70 is disposed within forward aperture76, while aft locking cam 72 is disposed within aft aperture 78. Lockingcams 70, 72 are designed to lock pylon 20 in place when fully extendedby compression spring 74, but to facilitate rotation when compressedtogether.

Referring next to FIGS. 3A-3D, details of a wing module, depicted asupper wing 14, are disclosed. Upper wing 14 is substantially similar tolower wing 16 therefore, for sake of efficiency, certain features willbe disclosed only with regard to upper wing 14. One having ordinaryskill in the art, however, will fully appreciate an understanding oflower wing 16 based upon the disclosure herein of upper wing 14. Upperwing 14 has an external wing skin that is formed from an upper skin 90and a lower skin 92. Upper and lower skins 90, 92 are rotatably coupledtogether at a hinge joint 94 that includes two hinge joint elements, oneon each side of upper wing 14. In other embodiments, other numbers ofhinge joint elements may be used, both less than and greater than two.In the illustrated embodiment, hinge joint 94 is proximate the leadingedge of upper wing 14 and defines a spanwise axis of rotation for upperand lower skins 90, 92.

Upper skin 90 forms an upper surface of upper wing 14 having a curvedprofile. Lower skin 92 forms the leading edge, the trailing edge and thelower surface of upper wing 14 with the lower surface having a generallyor substantially planar profile. In the flight configuration of upperwing 14 depicted in FIGS. 3A-3D, the curved upper surface and thegenerally planar lower surface of upper wing 14 form an airfoil crosssection to facilitate flight. As such, upper and lower skins 90, 92provide lift responsive to the forward airspeed of aircraft 10 whenupper and lower skins 90, 92 are in the flight configuration. Lower skin92 of upper wing 14 incorporates an array of mounts on its lowersurface, including forward mount 96, forward mount 98, aft mount 100 andaft mount 102. Forward mounts 96, 98 serve as mounting points for upperpropulsion assemblies 30, 32 described herein. Forward and aft mounts96, 100 serve as mounting points for first pylon 18. Forward and aftmounts 98, 102 serve as mounting points for second pylon 20. Theconstruction of lower wing 16 is similar to the construction of upperwing 14, except that the mounting points are disposed on the uppersurface of wing 16.

Referring additionally to FIGS. 3E-3G, upper wing 14 is depicted in itsaccess configuration. In particular, upper skin 90 and a lower skin 92have been rotated relative to each other about hinge joint 94 such thatupper and lower skins 90, 92 are split in the chordwise direction andsuch that the distal ends of upper and lower skins 90, 92 are separatedto facilitate access to an interior cavity 106. Interior cavity 106 maybe partially or entirely formed within lower skin 92. A portion ofinterior cavity 106 may also be formed within upper skin 90. The flightconfiguration of upper wing 14 may be referred to as the closed positionof upper and lower skins 90, 92, while the access configuration of upperwing 14 may be referred to as the opening position of upper and lowerskins 90, 92. In the open position, a user is provided with access tosome or all of the interior portion of upper wing 14. Depending on theapplication, interior cavity 106 may support any components that mayserve the mission for which aircraft 10 may be deployed. These mayinclude operational components such as an avionics package and/or asensor package or non operational components such as a removable payloador combination thereof.

Although interior cavity 106 is shown as encompassing substantially theentire internal volume of upper wing 14, those of skill in the art willrecognize that alternate embodiments may employ a smaller internalcavity 106. Even though a single wing module has been illustrated asforming an entire wing for aircraft 10, it should be understood by thoseskilled in the art that a single wing could be made up of multiple wingmodules having a side-by-side relationship in which the sides ofadjacent wing modules may be in contact with one another or may beseparated by another portion of the wing or a fuselage. In addition,even though the present wing modules have been depicted and describedwith reference to aircraft 10, it should be understood by those havingordinary skill in the art that a wing module of the present disclosurecould alternatively be used as all or a portion of a wing for otheraircraft including, but not limited to, fixed wing aircraft, tiltrotoraircraft, tiltwing aircraft and the like.

The construction of pivot lock 50 will now be discussed with referenceto FIGS. 4A-4D. Pivot lock 52 is substantially similar to pivot lock 50therefore, for sake of efficiency, certain features will be disclosedonly with regard to pivot lock 50. One having ordinary skill in the art,however, will fully appreciate an understanding of pivot lock 52 basedupon the disclosure herein of pivot lock 50. As noted above, pivot lock50 comprises forward lock cam 54, aft lock cam 56 and compression spring58. Working together in concert with mating features incorporated intoupper wing 14 and pylon 18, pivot lock 50 secures the articulation ofpylon 18 relative to wing 14 when compression spring 58 is extended,while allowing for rotation of pylon 18 relative to wing 14 whencompression spring 58 is compressed. Forward lock cam 54 incorporates ananti-rotation tip, depicted as hexagonal tip 110, disposed on theoutboard end of shank 112, having a generally cylindrical profile. Base114, also having a generally cylindrical profile, is disposed on theinboard end of shank 112. Lobe 116, having a generally prismatic shape,is disposed on the periphery of shank 112 adjacent to base 114.Compression tang 118, having a generally rectangular profile, isdisposed at the periphery of base 114. Shank 112 is shaped and sized toextend through aperture 60 of first pylon 18 with lobe 116 mating with amatching alignment feature of aperture 60. Hexagonal tip 110 is shapedand sized to mate with an anti-rotation aperture, depicted as hexagonalaperture 96, in upper wing 14 when compression spring 58 is extended,thereby locking the orientation between upper wing 14 and pylon 18.

Aft lock cam 56 incorporates an anti-rotation tip, depicted as hexagonaltip 120, disposed on the outboard end of shank 122, having a generallycylindrical profile. Base 124, also having a generally cylindricalprofile, is disposed on the inboard end of shank 122. Lobe 126, having agenerally prismatic shape, is disposed on the periphery of shank 122adjacent to base 124. Compression tang 128, having a generallyrectangular profile, is disposed at the periphery of base 124. Shank 122is shaped and sized to extend through aperture 62 of first pylon 18 withlobe 126 mating with a matching alignment feature of aperture 62.Hexagonal tip 120 engages with an anti-rotation aperture, depicted ashexagonal aperture 100, in upper wing 14 when compression spring 58 isextended. In the illustrated embodiment, lobe 116 of forward lock cam 54is positioned 180 degrees out of phase relative to lobe 126 of aft lockcam 56. In other embodiments, lobe 116 of forward lock cam 54 may bepositioned in other out of phase positions relative to lobe 126 of aftlock cam 56 or lobe 116 of forward lock cam 54 may be positioned inphase relative to lobe 126 of aft lock.

Pivot lock 50 thus couples first pylon 18 to upper wing 14 andselectively allows and prevents relative rotation therebetween.Specifically, forward lock cam 54, aft lock cam 56 and compressionspring 58 operate to fix the position of pylon 18 relative to upper wing14 whenever compression spring 58 is extended. When spring 58 iscompressed, and lock cams 54, 56 are disengaged from their matingrelationship with apertures 96, 98 of upper wing 14, pylon 18 may befreely rotated about pivot joint 22. In this manner, aircraft 10 may beconverted from the open articulation to the closed articulation, or viceversa, by compressing spring 58 of pivot lock 50 and compressing spring74 of pivot lock 52 to enable relative rotation of pylons 18, 20relative to upper wing 14. In the illustrated embodiment, lower pivotjoints 26, 28 rotatably couple lower wing 16 to pylons 18, 20 such thatrelative rotation is allowed. Thus, actuation of pivot locks 50, 52enables articulation of aircraft 10. In other embodiments, similar pivotlocks may be associated with lower pivot joints 26, 28.

Even though a particular articulation geometry has been depicted anddescribed, it should be understood by those having ordinary skill in theart that articulation between a flight mode and a compact storage modeof an aircraft may be accomplished in a variety of ways. For example, asbest seen in FIGS. 5A-5B, aircraft 150 incorporates upper wing 152 andlower wing 154 connected by an array of four pylons 156, 158, 160, 162.In contrast to pylons 18, 20 of aircraft 10 shown and described above,each of pylons 156, 158, 160, 162 incorporates a hinge joint 164 at itsmidpoint. Hinge joints 164 allow for aircraft 150 to be opened andclosed by translating wings 152, 154 along a vertical axis V (see FIG.1A) that is generally orthogonal to the principal planes of wings 152,154 between a maximum vertical dimension, in the flight mode depicted inFIG. 5B, and a minimum vertical dimension, in the compact storage modedepicted in FIG. 5A. In this embodiment, pylons 156, 158, 160, 162extend in the outboard direction when aircraft 150 is closed. Aircraft150 may be locked in the open and the closed articulations using pivotlocks 166 (only one pivot lock being visible in the figures) in a mannersimilar to the operation of pivot locks 50, 52 discussed above, eitheralone or in combination with locking features of hinge joints 164, suchas tightening and loosening hinge joints 164 to prevent and allowrotation thereof. The operation and functionality of aircraft 150 areotherwise substantially similar to those of aircraft 10.

Aircraft 170, shown in FIGS. 6A-6B, is very similar to aircraft 150.Aircraft 170 incorporates upper wing 172 and lower wing 174 connected byan array of four pylons 176, 178, 180, 182. In contrast to pylons 18, 20of aircraft 10 shown and described above, and similar to theconstruction of aircraft 150, each of pylons 176, 178, 180, 182incorporates a hinge joint 184 at its midpoint. Hinge joints 184 allowfor aircraft 170 to be opened and closed by translating wings 172, 174along a vertical axis V (see FIG. 1A) that is generally orthogonal tothe principal planes of wings 172, 174 between a maximum verticaldimension, in the flight mode depicted in FIG. 6B, and a minimumvertical dimension, in the compact storage mode depicted in FIG. 6A. Inthis embodiment, pylons 176, 178, 180, 182 extend in the inboarddirection when aircraft 170 is closed. Aircraft 170 may be locked in theopen and the closed articulations using pivot locks 186 (only one pivotlock being visible in the figures) in a manner similar to the operationof pivot locks 50, 52 discussed above, either alone or in combinationwith locking features of hinge joints 184, such as tightening andloosening hinge joints 184 to prevent and allow rotation thereof. Theoperation and functionality of aircraft 170 are otherwise substantiallysimilar to those of aircraft 10 and aircraft 150.

The foregoing embodiments have employed pylons pivoting about axesgenerally parallel to the direction of flight, but there is nothingwithin the spirit and scope of the present disclosure that is limited tothat geometry. FIGS. 7A-7B depict an aircraft 190 incorporating upperwing 192 and lower wing 194 connected by pylons 196, 198, 200, 202,which are distinct from the pylons of the foregoing embodiments owing todifferent axes of rotation. Whereas the pylons in the embodiments setforth above have been designed to pivot sideways or transverse to thedirection of flight, pylons 196, 198, 200, 202 pivot along the directionof flight about pivot joints 204, 206. When pylons 196, 198, 200, 202rotate relative to upper and lower wings 192, 194, upper and lower wings192, 194 shift fore-aft (see fore-aft axis F/A in FIG. 1A) and movevertically relative to each other between a maximum vertical dimension,in the flight mode depicted in FIG. 7B, and a minimum verticaldimension, in the compact storage mode depicted in FIG. 7A. Aircraft 190may be locked in the open and the closed articulations using lockingfeatures of pivot joints 204 and/or pivot joints 206. Otherwise,aircraft 190 is substantially similar to aircraft 10.

Referring next to FIGS. 8A-8C, an unmanned aerial vehicle is depictedand referred to herein as aircraft 220. Aircraft 220 has a modularairframe that incorporates upper wing 222 and lower wing 224 connectedby a network of pylons. Upper and lower wings 222, 224 each have anairfoil cross section and may have a generally or substantially planarlower surface. In the illustrated embodiment, forward pylons 226, 228extend between forward sections of wings 222, 224, aft pylons 230, 232extend between aft sections of wings 222, 224 and intermediate pylons234, 236 extend between forward sections of wing 222 and aft sections ofwing 224 to provide structural integrity to aircraft 220. In theillustrated embodiment, upper and lower wings 222, 224 are substantiallyparallel and pylons 226, 230, 234 are substantially parallel with pylons228, 232, 236 such that the airframe has a substantially rectangularcross section. Aircraft 220 has a two-dimensional distributed thrustarray including four propulsion assemblies 238, 240, 242, 244 that areindependently operated and controlled by the flight control system ofaircraft 220. In the illustrated embodiment, two propulsion assembliesare operably associated with each wing 222, 224 to provide vertical liftfor aircraft 220 in the vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) orientationof aircraft 220, as best seen in FIG. 8C, and forward thrust foraircraft 220 in the forward flight orientation of aircraft 220, as bestseen in FIGS. 8A-8B.

Pylons 228, 232, 236 are secured to upper wing 222 and lower wing 224 atan array of connection points, which include connections depicted asthreaded fasteners 250, 252, 254, 256. A corresponding array ofconnections 258, 260, 262, 264 secures pylons 226, 230, 234 to wings222, 224 on the opposite side of aircraft 220, as best seen in FIG. 9.Even though the connections between the pylons and the wings of thepresent embodiment have been depicted and described as threadedfasteners, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that thepylons and wings of other embodiments may be secured by any suitablefastening method without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure.

Referring additionally to FIG. 10, therein is depicted a plurality ofwing modules each having a respective function that may beinterchangeably used as the upper and lower wings of the modularairframe to provide rapid and efficient customization of aircraft 220for various missions. For example, wing modules 222, 270, 272 mayrepresent a plurality of upper wing modules and wing modules 224, 274,276 may represent a plurality of lower wing modules. The functionalityof the plurality of upper wing modules and the plurality of lower wingmodules may vary according to the specific mission to which aircraft 220may be assigned. This allows upper and lower wing modules to be “mixedand matched” to quickly optimize aircraft 220 for a specific mission.For example, the plurality of upper wing modules and/or the plurality oflower wing modules may include individual wing modules with specificfunctionalities such as navigation system wing modules, autonomousnavigation system wing modules, remote navigation system wing modules,sensor system wing modules, communication system wing modules, cargostorage wing modules, flight control system and electric power systemwing modules and combinations or permutations thereof including wingmodules having more than one functionality.

In one implementation, aircraft 220 may require a navigation system wingmodule as the upper wing module. In this case, the upper wing moduleselected from the plurality of upper wing modules may have a generalpurpose navigation system therein. The general purpose navigation systemmay provide a certain degree of remote control, along with a certaindegree of autonomous operation, thus being capable of operating ineither mode, but not optimized for either role. Alternatively, for amission in which aircraft 220 may require specialized navigationcapabilities, the upper wing module selected from the plurality of upperwing modules may be a remote navigation system wing module optimized forremote control, with limited autonomous capability, if any. On the otherhand, the upper wing module selected from the plurality of upper wingmodules may be an autonomous navigation system wing modules optimizedfor autonomous navigation, with limited remote control capability, ifany.

In another implementations, aircraft 220 may require a sensor systemwing module as the lower wing module. In this case, the lower wingmodule selected from the plurality of lower wing modules may incorporatea combination of visible and infrared cameras, radio antennas andsimilar sensors to acquire general data about the current operatingenvironment. For certain missions, however, optical data may be thecritical data and other signals may be unimportant. In this situation,the lower wing module selected from the plurality of lower wing modulesmay incorporate one or more specialized, high-resolution cameras matedto high-magnification lenses. In an alternate mission, radio data may becritical, while optical data may be unimportant. In this situation, thelower wing module selected from the plurality of lower wing modules mayincorporate one or more high-gain antennas tuned to the frequencies ofthe radio signals to be acquired. The use of the modular airframe of thepresent disclosure thus facilitates quick and efficient mission specificoptimization of aircraft 220. As should be apparent to those havingordinary skill in the art, the modular airframe of the presentdisclosure provides any number of combinations, permutations and/orvariations depending upon the mission requirements.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that, although the modularconcept using interchangeable wing modules has been described inconnection with rigid connecting pylons for the sake of simplicity,there is nothing within the spirit and scope of the present disclosurerequiring the wing modules to be limited to such constructions. Forexample, any of the special-purpose wing modules depicted in FIGS. 8A-10may be incorporated into any of the articulable aircraft depicted inFIGS. 1A-7B.

The internal structure of one embodiment of a wing 300 is depicted inFIG. 11. Wing 300 and/or the components parts thereof may be used withany aircraft embodiment discussed herein. The upper and lower skins havebeen removed from wing 300 to reveal wing substructure as well as theavionics 302 and other systems incorporating various functions of theaircraft. These systems may include, but are not limited to, a flightcontrol system, an electric power system, a navigation system, acommunication system and a sensor system, as examples. The function andinteraction of these modules is described in detail below.

Referring additionally to FIGS. 12-13, these block diagrams show certainoperational components of an unmanned aerial vehicle and theinterconnections therebetween. Those of skill in the art will understandthat these components may apply to any of the aircraft depicted anddescribed in the present disclosure. Further, those of skill in the artwill recognize that these components may, and often will, be housed inseparate wing modules. As described above, the navigational componentsmay be housed in one wing module while the sensory components may behoused in a separate wing module. The foregoing description is directedto the assembled aircraft as a whole.

Referring specifically to FIG. 12, an unmanned aerial vehicle isdepicted and referred to herein as aircraft 310. In the illustratedembodiment, aircraft 310 has a two-dimensional distributed thrust arrayincluding four propulsion assemblies 312, 314, 316, 318 that areindependently operated and controlled by the flight control system ofaircraft 340, such as a digital flight control computer, that preferablyincludes non-transitory computer readable storage media including a setof computer instructions executable by one or more processors forcontrolling the operation of aircraft 310. Flight control system 340 maybe implemented on one or more general-purpose computers, special purposecomputers or other machines with memory and processing capability. Forexample, flight control system 340 may include one or more memorystorage modules including, but is not limited to, internal storagememory such as random access memory, non-volatile memory such as readonly memory, removable memory such as magnetic storage memory, opticalstorage, solid-state storage memory or other suitable memory storageentity. Flight control system 340 may be a microprocessor-based systemoperable to execute program code in the form of machine-executableinstructions. In addition, flight control system 340 may be selectivelyconnectable to other computer systems via a suitable communicationnetwork that may include both wired and wireless connections.

Flight control system 340 is operably associated with an electric powersystem 342, which may incorporate batteries and a power controller.Preferably, the batteries are rechargeable batteries and/or easilyreplaceable batteries that provide aircraft 310 with thirty to sixtyminutes or more of flight time at tens or hundreds of feet in the air.Electric power system 342 provides electrical energy to the varioussystems of aircraft 310 including propulsion assemblies 312, 314, 316,318, flight control system 340, electronic speed controllers 344, 346,348, 350, a navigation system 352 such as a GPS module, a communicationsystem 354 and a sensor system 356. Flight control system 340 ofaircraft 310 may be operated responsive to autonomous flight control,remote flight control or a combination thereof. For example, flightcontrol system 340 may use waypoint navigation to follow a trail ofpreprogrammed waypoints to accomplish a desired mission. Alternativelyor additionally, flight control system 340 may be operated responsive toassisted manual flight based upon commands received from a groundstation via communication system 354 using a wireless communicationsprotocol. During assisted manual flight, aircraft 310 may be limited toflight within a line of sight communications range.

In the illustrated embodiment, sensor system 356 is controlled by flightcontrol system 340. In other embodiments, sensor system 356 may utilizean independent control system. Sensor system 356 may include a sensorarray having one or more of an optical camera, a thermal camera, aninfrared camera, a video camera, an intelligence, surveillance andreconnaissance module and/or other desired sensors. For example, sensorsystem 356 may include a forward pointing camera and/or a downwardpointing camera when aircraft 310 is in the flying wing orientation.Sensor system 356 may provide real time images and/or video to theground station via communication system 354 using a wirelesscommunications protocol, which may be useful when aircraft 310 isoperated as a soldier borne sensor. Alternatively or additionally,sensor system 356 may capture and store information during a mission fordownload after the mission.

In the illustrated embodiment, flight control system 340 communicatesvia a wired communications network with the various systems of aircraft310. In other embodiments, flight control system 340 could communicatewith the various systems of aircraft 310 via a wireless communicationsnetwork. During flight operations, flight control system 340 sendscommands to electronic speed controllers 344, 346, 348, 350 such thateach propulsion assembly 312, 314, 316, 318 may be individually andindependently controlled and operated. In this manner, flight controlsystem 340 is operable to individually and independently control theoperating speed of each propulsion assembly 312, 314, 316, 318.

Propulsion assembly 312 includes electric motor 320 and rotor assembly322, propulsion assembly 314 includes electric motor 324 and rotorassembly 326, propulsion assembly 316 includes electric motor 328 androtor assembly 330 and propulsion assembly 318 includes electric motor332 and rotor assembly 334. Each rotor assembly 322, 326, 330, 334 iscoupled to an output drive of a respective electrical motor 320, 324,328, 332 that rotates the rotor assembly 322, 326, 330, 334 in arotational plane to generate thrust for aircraft 310. In the illustratedembodiment, rotor assemblies 322, 326, 330, 334 each include two rotorblades having a fixed pitch. In other embodiments, the rotor assembliescould have other numbers of rotor blades greater than two. Alternativelyor additionally, the rotor assemblies could have variable pitch rotorblades.

Flight control system 340 may autonomously control some or all aspectsof flight operation for aircraft 310. Flight control system 340 is alsooperable to communicate with remote systems, such as a ground stationvia a wireless communications protocol. The remote system may beoperable to receive flight data from and provide commands to flightcontrol system 340 to enable remote flight control over some or allaspects of flight operation for aircraft 310. The autonomous and/orremote operation of aircraft 310 enables aircraft 310 to performunmanned logistic operations for both military and commercialapplications.

Referring additionally to FIG. 13 in the drawings, a block diagramdepicts aircraft control system 370 operable for use with aircraft 310of the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment, control system370 includes two primary computer based subsystems; namely, anautonomous system 372 and a remote system 374. As discussed herein, theaircraft of the present disclosure may be operated autonomouslyresponsive to commands generated by flight control system 340. In theillustrated embodiment, flight control system 340 includes commandmodule 376, monitoring module 378 and controllers 380 such as a powercontroller and electronic speed controllers 344, 346, 348, 350 discussedabove. It is to be understood by those skilled in the art that these andother modules executed by flight control system 340 may be implementedin a variety of forms including hardware, software, firmware, specialpurpose processors and combinations thereof.

During the various flight operating modes of aircraft 310, monitoringmodule 378 may receive feedback from the propulsion assemblies 312, 314,316, 318, controllers 380, electric power system 342, navigation system352, communication system 354 and/or sensor system 356. This feedback isprocessed by monitoring module 378 to supply correction data and otherinformation to command module 376 and/or controllers 380. Sensor system356 may include altitude sensors, attitude sensors, speed sensors,environmental sensors, fuel supply sensors, temperature sensors and thelike that provide additional information to monitoring module 378 tofurther enhance autonomous control capabilities.

Some or all of the autonomous control capability of flight controlsystem 340 can be augmented or supplanted by remote flight controlsystem 374. Remote system 374 may include one or more computing systemsthat may be implemented on general-purpose computers, special purposecomputers or other machines with memory and processing capabilityincluding, for example, a tablet computer. The computing systems mayinclude one or more memory storage modules including, but is not limitedto, internal storage memory such as random access memory, non-volatilememory such as read only memory, removable memory such as magneticstorage memory, optical storage memory, solid-state storage memory orother suitable memory storage entity. The computing systems may bemicroprocessor-based systems operable to execute program code in theform of machine-executable instructions. In addition, the computingsystems may be connected to other computer systems via a proprietaryencrypted network, a public encrypted network, the Internet or othersuitable communication network that may include both wired and wirelessconnections. Remote system 374 communicates with flight control system340 via communication system 354 over a communication link 382 that mayinclude both wired and wireless connections.

Remote system 374 preferably includes one or more display devices 384configured to display information relating to or obtained by one or moreaircraft of the present disclosure. Remote system 374 may also includeaudio output and input devices such as a microphone, speakers and/or anaudio port allowing an operator to communicate with, for example, otherremote station operators. Display device 384 may also serve as a remoteinput device 376 if a touch screen display implementation is used,however, other remote input devices, such as a keyboard or joysticks,may alternatively be used to allow an operator to provide controlcommands to aircraft 310.

The foregoing description of embodiments of the disclosure has beenpresented for purposes of illustration and description. It is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise formdisclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of theabove teachings or may be acquired from practice of the disclosure. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principalsof the disclosure and its practical application to enable one skilled inthe art to utilize the disclosure in various embodiments and withvarious modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.Other substitutions, modifications, changes and omissions may be made inthe design, operating conditions and arrangement of the embodimentswithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Suchmodifications and combinations of the illustrative embodiments as wellas other embodiments will be apparent to persons skilled in the art uponreference to the description. It is, therefore, intended that theappended claims encompass any such modifications or embodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wing module for an aerial vehicle, the wingmodule having a flight configuration and an access configuration, thewing module comprising: an external wing skin including an upper skinhaving an upper surface with a curved profile and a lower skin havingleading and trailing edges and a lower surface; a hinge joint couplingthe upper and lower skins enabling relative rotation of the upper andlower skins between the flight configuration and the accessconfiguration, the hinge joint positioned at a forward portion of theupper and lower skins; and an interior cavity formed at least partiallywithin the lower skin; wherein, in the flight configuration, the upperand lower skins form an airfoil cross section; and wherein, in theaccess configuration, the upper and lower skins are split in thechordwise direction such that distal ends of the first and second skinsare separated providing access to the interior cavity.
 2. The wingmodule as recited in claim 1 wherein the hinge joint defines a spanwiseaxis of rotation for the upper and lower skins.
 3. The wing module asrecited in claim 1 wherein the hinge joint further comprises first andsecond hinge joint elements disposed on opposites sides of the externalwing skin.
 4. The wing module as recited in claim 1 wherein the interiorcavity is formed entirely within the lower skin.
 5. The wing module asrecited in claim 1 wherein the interior cavity is formed at leastpartially within the upper skin.
 6. The wing module as recited in claim1 further comprising an array of pylon mounts coupled to the externalwing skin.
 7. The wing module as recited in claim 6 wherein the array ofpylon mounts are coupled to the upper surface of the upper wing skin. 8.The wing module as recited in claim 7 wherein the array of pylon mountsincludes first and second forward pylon mounts and first and second aftpylon mounts.
 9. The wing module as recited in claim 6 wherein the arrayof pylon mounts are coupled to the lower surface of the lower wing skin.10. The wing module as recited in claim 9 wherein the array of pylonmounts includes first and second forward pylon mounts and first andsecond aft pylon mounts.
 11. The wing module as recited in claim 1further comprising operational components supported by the interiorcavity.
 12. The wing module as recited in claim 11 wherein theoperational components include an avionics package.
 13. The wing moduleas recited in claim 11 wherein the operational components include asensor package.
 14. The wing module as recited in claim 1 furthercomprising nonoperational components supported by the interior cavity.15. The wing module as recited in claim 14 wherein the nonoperationalcomponents include a removable payload.
 16. An unmanned aerial vehiclecomprising: an airframe including first and second wings each having anairfoil cross section in a flight configuration and first and secondpylons extending between a lower surface of the first wing and an uppersurface of the second wing; a thrust array coupled to the airframeincluding first and second propulsion assemblies coupled to the firstwing and third and fourth propulsion assemblies coupled to the secondwing; an electric power system operably associated with the thrust arrayand operable to provide power to each propulsion assembly; and a flightcontrol system operably associated with the thrust array and operable toindependently control the speed of each propulsion assembly; wherein,the first wing has an external wing skin including an upper skin havingan upper surface with a curved profile and a lower skin having leadingand trailing edges and the lower surface, a hinge joint coupling theupper and lower skins enabling relative rotation of the upper and lowerskins between the flight configuration and an access configuration, thehinge joint positioned at a forward portion of the upper and lower skinsand an interior cavity formed at least partially within the lower skin;and wherein, in the access configuration of the first wing, the upperand lower skins are split in the chordwise direction such that distalends of the first and second skins are separated providing access to theinterior cavity.
 17. The unmanned aerial vehicle as recited in claim 16wherein the second wing has an external wing skin including an upperskin having the upper surface with a curved profile and a lower skinhaving leading and trailing edges and a lower surface, a hinge jointcoupling the upper and lower skins enabling relative rotation of theupper and lower skins between the flight configuration and an accessconfiguration, the hinge joint positioned at a forward portion of theupper and lower skins and an interior cavity formed at least partiallywithin the lower skin; and wherein, in the access configuration of thesecond wing, the upper and lower skins are split in the chordwisedirection such that distal ends of the first and second skins areseparated providing access to the interior cavity.
 18. The unmannedaerial vehicle as recited in claim 17 further comprising an avionicspackage supported by the interior cavity of the first wing and a sensorpackage supported by the interior cavity of the second wing.
 19. Theunmanned aerial vehicle as recited in claim 17 further comprisingnonoperational components supported by the interior cavity of the firstwing and operational components supported by the interior cavity of thesecond wing.
 20. The unmanned aerial vehicle as recited in claim 19wherein the nonoperational components include a removable payload andoperational components include an avionics package.